Termeil Lake

Our water quality monitoring program has shown Termeil Lake to have fair water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.

Termeil Lake is located on the south coast of New South Wales between Ulladulla and Batemans Bay. It is classed as a back-dune lagoon with an intermittently closed entrance.

Termeil Lake is a near pristine estuary, tucked away within Meroo National Park.

Estuary health and features

Water quality

As part of our water quality monitoring program we assess the water quality and ecosystem health of an estuary using a range of relevant indicators. We sample a subset of the estuaries between Wollongong and the Victorian border every 3 years. The most recent sampling in Termeil Lake was completed over the 2020–21 summer when 2 sites were sampled on a monthly basis.

Termeil Lake water quality report card for algae and water clarity showing colour-coded ratings (red, orange, yellow, light green and dark green, which represent very poor, poor, fair, good and excellent, respectively). Algae is rated 'poor' and water clarity is rated 'excellent' giving an overall rating of 'fair' or 'C'.

This report card represents 2 water quality indicators that we routinely measure: the amount of algae present and water clarity. Low levels of these 2 indicators equate with good water quality.

The report card shows the condition of the estuary was excellent with:

  • algae abundance graded good (B)
  • water clarity graded excellent (A)
  • overall estuary health graded excellent (A).

Find out more about our estuary report cards and what each grade means. Read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols and find out how we calculate these grades.

We have monitored water quality in Termeil Lake since 2008. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.

Termeil Lake historic water quality grades from 2008-09 for algae and water clarity. Colour-coded ratings (red, orange, yellow, light green and dark green represent very poor (E), poor (D), fair (C), good (B) and excellent (A), respectively).

Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as:

  • A – excellent
  • B – good
  • C – fair
  • D – poor
  • E – very poor.

Physical characteristics

Estuary type: Back-dune lagoon

Entrance
location 		Latitude (ºS) –35.46
Longitude (ºE) 150.39
Catchment area (km2) 14
Estuary area (km2) 0.6
Estuary volume (ML) 397.9
Average depth (m) 0.7

Tidal exchange volume

Tidal exchange volume or tidal prism data is available for this estuary. This tidal prism was measured in 2001. 

Tide state Flow
(106 m3)		 Local tidal
range (m)		 Sydney Harbour
tidal range (m)
Ebb flow 0.39 0.54 1.22
Flood flow 0.3 0.49 1.24
Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = metres; m3 = cubic metres; ML = megalitres.

Water depth and survey data

Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.

Land use

The catchment of Termeil Lake is moderately disturbed with about one third of land use changed to grazing and rural residential development. Most of the catchment remains as forest within Meroo National Park and Forestry Corporation land.

National and marine parks

  • Termeil Lake is situated within Meroo National Park.
  • This estuary does not flow into a marine park.

Citizen science projects

  • The South Coast Shorebird Recovery Program provides the opportunity for people to get involved in the protection and recovery of shore birds.
  • The Budawang Coast Nature Map is an online data platform the community can use to record and identify biodiversity. Data collected is used to map the distribution of native plant and animal species from Moruya up almost to Kiama.

Community involvement

Termeil Lake

Local government management

Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Shoalhaven City Council manage this estuary.